UNITING THE BUILT & NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS

Renzo Piano, winner of the 1998 Pritzker Prize, discussed ecology and architecture with Today Online. On the Academy of Sciences building in San Francisco, Piano said “our duty is to translate the codes of this ecological language in a poetic way, to marry beauty with respect for the environment.” Furthermore, Piano argues that “the architect should feel responsible for the environment.”

The Academy of Sciences building features a 2.5 acre living green roof, solar panels that provide for 10 percent of the building’s energy, and skylights that automatically vent to release hot air. The green roof was built according to Piano’s designs by the SWA Group, a leading landscape architecture firm, which brought additional design innovation to the project.